UCD to face the Prawns in the championship game
ILL 2015 (Mens) Gameday #5 Report
by Martin Scanlon, IL Clubs Committee Chairperson
The final round of round robin games in the 2015 Irish Lacrosse League took place in Queen’s University Belfast on the 28th March. Entering the games, top and bottom of the league had already been decided; however the other spot in the final was still up for grabs.
Queen’s v Dublin Bay Prawns
The day began with a battle between the league leaders, the Dublin Bay Prawns and the league debutants, Queen’s. Throughout the season, the development of the players from the Belfast side has been evident and this was again reinforced by their showing against the Prawns. While the ultimate margin of defeat was still relatively significant (11-2), they can be proud of their performance against a vastly more experienced Prawns side.
Cillian Murphy led the scoring again for the Prawns with six goals, with Paul Murran chipping in 1 goal and 3 assists, and Gareth Kavanagh and Alex Mowatt-Larssen both registering a double. At the other end, Gavin Donaldson, continued his scoring streak with a goal and an assist which was mirrored by Simon Daly.
Final score: Prawns 11 – Queen’s 2
Match stats:
Prawns: Cillian Murphy (6 G), Gareth Kavanagh (2 G), Alex Mowatt-Larssen (2 G), Paul Murran (1 G, 3 A), Dexter Blanc (1 A)
Queen’s: Gavin Donaldson (1 G, 1 A), Simon Daly (1 G, 1 A)
Dublin Avengers v University College Dublin
The Avengers needed to both win and deny the university side a losing bonus point to secure a place in the final. Anything less and UCD would be facing the Prawns on the final weekend. Unfortunately, the Avengers were again without some of their key players, while UCD benefited from the return of Josh Appel to their offense.
In what proved to be a very one-sided encounter, UCD raced out to a lead which they never relinquished with the game ending on a 12-2 scoreline. It was the familiar faces who again did the scoring for UCD, with Ciaran Boylan, Cian Rushe and Appel amongst the goals. Sean O’Shaughnessy was creator in chief with five assists. Cormac Brennan also got his first goal of the season for the college team.
The bright spot for the Avengers was the performance of their young stars. This time it was Jack Free who got his first ever point in the ILL, when he assisted Mike Kennedy for one of the Avengers’ two goals. The other goal was a solo effort by captain, Jake Morris.
Final score: UCD 12 – Avengers 2
Match stats:
UCD: Ciaran Boylan (5 G, 1 A), Cian Rushe (4 G, 2 A), Josh Appel (2 G, 3 A) Cormac Brennan (1 G), Sean O’Shaughnessy (5 A)
Avengers: Jake Morris (1 G), Mike Kennedy (1 G), Jack Free (1 A)
ILL Men’s Standings
| Teams | P | W | D | L | Bonus Points | Total Points |
| Dublin Bay Prawns | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| UCD | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| NUI Galway | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Dublin Avengers | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5* |
| QUB | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
*Deducted three points
Regular season top points-scorer was Sean O’Shaughnessy (UCD) with 19 points from 4 games. Tied for top goal-scorer were Ciaran Boylan (UCD – 4 games) and Cillian Murphy (Prawns – 3 games) with 13 goals apiece.
Individual player stats can be found here: http://goo.gl/rmS4eu.
The playoffs take place in Dublin on the 11th April and the schedule is as follows:
10 am: Galway v Avengers (Third Place playoff)
12.30 pm: Queen’s v U-19 select
2.00 pm: Prawns v UCD (Championship game)
Later that evening the Irish Lacrosse Annual Awards and Trophy Presentation will take place in the Gresham Hotel. All welcome!
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